Paul Knightly

Geologist and Photographer.

Views are mine.

Research: https://www.paulknightlyphotography.com/research/
Photography: https://www.paulknightlyphotography.com
Location: Northwest Arkansas, USA

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Last Notes

2026-04-10 15:24:07 UTC

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my 'problem' now is that I have a friend group that includes a couple of big movie buffs who have created literal shrines to their DVD collections, either on multiple shelves or in a dedicated closet or cabinet.
I'm not one for keeping up with the Jones's, but they've shown me the light that DVD storage can be an art in and of itself. Mine just has significantly fewer collector's editions than theirs lol.

2026-04-10 14:38:14 UTC

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Very quickly reaching a point where the value proposition provided by streaming falls out, if not already.
Many streaming platforms don't report on total subscriber numbers, so I wonder how much of recent price increases are related to them compensating for losing subscriber revenue or missing growth targets because they're losing existing customers while adding new ones.
Either way, price increases plus decreased options in their libraries has led to increasing my DVD collection.

2026-04-10 14:36:44 UTC

PC Mag echoing the pain of the masses today.
Streaming is somewhat unavoidable in the current media ecosystem if there are certain shows or broadcasts that aren't available legally by other means. So while I don't subscribe to either of these services, I do feel the pain with the recent price hike to Netflix.
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/116/380/895/669/538/117/original/5e3f718793e1ce20.png

2026-04-10 14:30:26 UTC

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I've never updated my mailing information with my alma mater but they always find me after I move. I think they're able to get a list that comes by way of USPS change of address notifications.

2026-04-08 21:02:44 UTC

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I like his connection to the original establishment of the Fourth Amendment and the necessity of warrants to prevent British soldiers from rummaging through people's homes to determine if they possessed untaxed goods or treasonous writings about the King.
Warrantless access to digital devices and digital footprints alike are tantamount to law enforcement agencies rummaging about until they find something potentially or actually incriminating, completely devoid of guardrails and protections.

2026-04-08 20:53:40 UTC

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As I've been saying for quite a while now (two decades-ish?), it doesn't matter if you feel like you are on the right side of the law and have nothing to hide. The protection of privacy rights impacts everyone.
Clear laws and boundaries are needed to define what types of digital data can be accessed, with appropriate protections in place to prevent otherwise innocent parties from becoming ensnared in criminal investigations, or from being targeted for their views or political affiliations.

2026-04-08 20:52:04 UTC

Ars sat down with Andrew Guthrie Ferguson to discuss his new book, "Your Data Will Be Used Against You".
Really insightful interview and I'll add this to my reading list.
https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/04/how-our-digital-devices-are-putting-our-right-to-privacy-at-risk/

2026-03-14 14:12:28 UTC

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The award for creepiest new cars goes to Subaru. All of their new models appear to have a 'driver assist' system called EyeSight built-in, which includes driver monitoring and facial recognition built into the dash, and that you can't disable.
The salesman was gushing over how great it is and when he asked us if we were interested in looking at one more seriously we were upfront and said finding a car that wasn't constantly looking at us and storing biometric data was a non-negotiable.

2026-03-01 21:36:06 UTC

Followers in the U.S.:
I frequently bemoan the state of new cars on the market. Too much invasive vehicle telemetry and "safety" features that are more hazard than help because they aren't ready for prime-time.
Starting to look into replacements for my wife's car, which has become a money pit rather prematurely (only 140k miles and scheduled for a new transmission).
I know most cars are awful, so Im looking for recs if you've bought a car in the past few years that you're actually happy with.

2025-04-16 21:48:15 UTC

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I run Linux on my personal computer but as an IT-controlled work station, I don't have a say in what runs on my work computer - I'm just along for the ride and grateful that I'm not spending my money on rentalware. All points well taken.

2025-04-16 14:34:22 UTC

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This isn't a new concern for me either. I spent two months in the arctic in 2017 and had some serious concerns about losing access to software licenses that needed to check-in online at least once per month to verify the license was still active (i.e., that I had paid my bills).
I get that there's an expectation that the vast majority of users will not have this problem, but any talk about increasing productivity via constantly connected cloud services earns a very hard eye roll from me.

2025-04-16 14:30:08 UTC

Increasingly getting messages on my work computer running Windows 11 that it won't log me in if it does not have a network connection. I haven't bothered to try forcing it offline for more than a few hours to see if it will fully lock me out without an internet connection, but it's enough to give me some decent anxiety. I do a fair bit of fieldwork where internet connectivity isn't guaranteed, so what am I to do in those cases?

2025-04-11 13:30:11 UTC

Latest example of enshittification.
Something I've noticed for the past year or so is that when I purchase multiple songs from an album, or an entire album, from iTunes, the album will get split into multiple album entries in my music library.
Rooting around it seems to result from slight formatting changes to how the album is named, which results in separate entries being created. The only workaround is to sync the library to a laptop and manually change the album names in the file directory.

2025-02-02 04:47:24 UTC

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Adding to this list, items that I purchased yesterday (January 31, 2025) in anticipation of the imposition of tariffs today.
Avocado (each): $0.96
Bettergoods Pot Pie (family size): $8.94
The Bettergoods pot pie is a new Walmart brand item and one of the few foods both kids will eat right now, and prominently labeled as "Produced in Canada."
Gas and other foods unchanged from Jan 20, however I did find a dozen eggs for $3.50 at one of our closest Trader Joe's in Kansas City on Tuesday.

2025-01-20 12:22:38 UTC

For no particular reason.
Prices on January 20, 2025 (NW AR/SW MO)
- 12 eggs: $4.17
- 1 lb ground beef: $4.63
- Gallon whole milk: $4.23
- Gallon gas: $2.67

2024-12-17 17:43:40 UTC

Had an olive oil sprayer that was purchased on Amazon a couple of years ago tip over and leak it's entire contents into the pantry - ruined everything not in a plastic or metal container.
There really aren't any ready replacements available that aren't above Amazon's poor quality standards. At this point I'm not buying anything that's cross-listed to Amazon. It's a sure sign of poorly made products. So I'm open to olive oil sprayer suggestions.

2024-11-18 11:26:25 UTC

I've setup a bridge to Bluesky and can be followed there at the link below. I'll share some additional links on how to bridge between Bluesky and the fediverse.
https://bsky.app/profile/paulknightly.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy

2024-09-11 11:19:13 UTC

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"Why not just delete your accounts?"
Because of the walled garden effect and the negligible uptake of alternative means of staying in contact with people. I have some friends who live oversees who insist on using Meta-only services to stay in contact (admittedly not entirely their fault since there are few alternatives).
Deleting FB would be equivalent to ending those friendships, so I go the deactivation route to keep a backchannel available, if needed, to stay in contact.

2024-09-11 11:15:39 UTC

Finally deactivated FB (again). The last time I deactivated was pre-pandemic and lasted for a couple of years. Need to find a way to save all of the recipes my spouse has sent me on IG, but that will be soon to follow.
There's the standard privacy concerns, but what's pushing me over the edge is too much AI-generated content that isn't flagged as such, despite Meta's promises to do otherwise. I've yet to see a single AI flag on FB or IG. The election is 2 months away. That's a problem.

2024-09-05 12:34:44 UTC

The city of Bentonville released some new renderings of the 8th Street Gateway Park, which sit on a currently undeveloped tract of land between a residential area to the west and the 'gateway' to the downtown area to the east.
Concept art is cool. Although bigger concern for that area is it's capacity to handle traffic. The I-Street/8th Street/Walton Blvd intersection is awkward at best and quickly becoming a pinch point for traffic entering from all directions.
https://www.8gatewaypark.com/

2024-09-02 11:19:15 UTC

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And yes, my Southern Weather Brain is showing that I consider the mid-80s to be refreshing, although I'm mostly referring to morning temps that truly fit that bill.
There's always the possibility of this being False Fall, and seeing hotter temps in September lately hasn't been unusual.
I for one am rooting for a seasonal September to remember. Like the ones I grew up with below 375 ppm.

2024-09-02 11:12:25 UTC

As if on cue with the start of meteorological fall, the upcoming week+ in NW Arkansas should have highs consistently below 90F/32C with some excursions into the upper 70s for the first prolonged stretch since mid-June.
This summer had less 100+ degree days than last year IIRC, however we've still been running several degrees above avg most of the summer. This week will be avg or just below.
To have temps that are seasonable and feeling that first chill in the air is refreshing. #arwx

2024-08-14 23:33:17 UTC

Had a very fortunate opportunity today to join a guided tour to the bottom of Meteor Crater in Arizona. This is a bucket list stop for a lot of planetary geologists but due to the steep slopes and harsh environment the area is typically closed.
The tour was provided in conjunction with a few planetary science meetings that are happening in Flagstaff. Its been great talking about terrestrial analogs for planetary exploration over the past few days, and putting some principles to practice today!
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/112/962/923/067/965/996/original/82b87eac6a07e343.jpeg
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/112/962/924/263/969/333/original/35d58c6424488218.jpeg
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2024-07-31 15:23:38 UTC

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this is true. My only 'success' in licensing photos was through sending ABC a bill plus added recovery fees when they scooped photos off Twitter without asking. Base rate for each photo was a comparable range - if they had just asked nicely first!

2024-07-31 15:16:58 UTC

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I tried a similar approach a while back and was also met with crickets. It sucks because I know the local outlets don't have the budget and would benefit for the sake of supporting issuing warnings or emergency coverage, but the major networks do (or rather could have the budget if they adjusted their model). I think most photographers aren't expecting to get rich, but why should CNN get ad revenue when I went to the effort to get the photo? At least help put a few gallons in the tank.

2024-07-31 15:00:12 UTC

This is disappointing but mirrors a broader trend throughout media that all but strips photographers of their rights to license content that they independently capture, either through agreements such as this, or by outright refusing to license still imagery period. I can only imagine that the ULA agreement may partially have come from media pressure, but no proof.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/07/ula-to-amateur-launch-photographers-work-for-me-but-not-for-thee/